3 ms·

Yes but thus far Steam has had no real impact on consoles. In fact Valve recently opened pre-orders for Portal 2, but only for the console versions leaving the

by city41 16y ago

Yes but thus far Steam has had no real impact on consoles. In fact Valve recently opened pre-orders for Portal 2, but only for the console versions leaving the PC/Steam version out. Until Valve can figure out what to do about consoles, Steam will remain valuable but stuck on the fringes. I have no hard data but I'm willing to bet console games outsell PC games by quite a bit.

sid0 16y ago
That's just completely untrue. PC gaming worldwide is much bigger than console gaming, and even in the US traditional PC games are bigger than any single console. http://www.gamesetwatch.com/newzoo_2010spend.jpg http://www.gamesetwatch.com/newzoo_2010spend.jpg One reason is that AFAIK in Europe and most of the developing world, retail PC games are much cheaper than console games. (Here it's US $15 vs $55-60) Also, Portal 2 is now up for preorder on Steam. edit: of course, with digital distribution you also get a much larger cut [1] (so you don't need to sell as many copies as you do on a console to get the same amount of money). For me, the biggest plus with digital distribution is that you get access to niche genres. I'd never imagine finding games like Reccetear or Super Meat Boy in a local store, but they're available on Steam. It's the same deal with music: outside of popular bands like Massive Attack and The Beatles, I've never been able to find any music I like in a local store. More generally, this is one of the reasons I fervently believe the Internet is the most important human invention since fire: if you take the time to explore your options, you need no longer be tied down to mainstream preferences. [1] http://www.mcvuk.com/features/808/OPINION-Retail-vs-Steam http://www.mcvuk.com/features/808/OPINION-Retail-vs-Steam
krakensden 16y ago
Interestingly, Steam was partly a reaction to the difficulty of getting PC games into b&m stores.

by city41 16y ago

sid0 16y ago

That's just completely untrue. PC gaming worldwide is much bigger than console gaming, and even in the US traditional PC games are bigger than any single console. http://www.gamesetwatch.com/newzoo_2010spend.jpg http://www.gamesetwatch.com/newzoo_2010spend.jpg One reason is that AFAIK in Europe and most of the developing world, retail PC games are much cheaper than console games. (Here it's US $15 vs $55-60) Also, Portal 2 is now up for preorder on Steam. edit: of course, with digital distribution you also get a much larger cut [1] (so you don't need to sell as many copies as you do on a console to get the same amount of money). For me, the biggest plus with digital distribution is that you get access to niche genres. I'd never imagine finding games like Reccetear or Super Meat Boy in a local store, but they're available on Steam. It's the same deal with music: outside of popular bands like Massive Attack and The Beatles, I've never been able to find any music I like in a local store. More generally, this is one of the reasons I fervently believe the Internet is the most important human invention since fire: if you take the time to explore your options, you need no longer be tied down to mainstream preferences. [1] http://www.mcvuk.com/features/808/OPINION-Retail-vs-Steam http://www.mcvuk.com/features/808/OPINION-Retail-vs-Steam

krakensden 16y ago

Interestingly, Steam was partly a reaction to the difficulty of getting PC games into b&m stores.